Photo By Chief Petty Officer Michael Heckman | Bob Delaney, author of "Covert: My Years Infiltrating the Mob," addresses Soldiers...... read more read more
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FORT HOOD, Texas — Nov. 5 was like an earthquake; its emotional aftershocks will be felt for days, months and years to come. But means exist to help Soldiers, their families and other members of the Fort Hood community to effectively reduce the impact of that terrible day on their lives.
That was the message delivered to hundreds of Soldiers and first responders who attended a post-traumatic-stress-disorder presentation made by former New Jersey state trooper and NBA referee Bob Delaney Dec. 10 at Palmer Theater.
The 13 people who died and those in the immediate area of the Soldier Readiness Processing Center Nov. 5 may have been at the epicenter of the emotional upheaval surrounding the shootings on post, but everyone in the Fort Hood community was impacted by and has a story to tell about it.
And telling their stories will the community to heal, Delaney said.
"Your story is about where you were when it took place but everyone has a story that needs to be heard, feelings that need to be expressed," part of a process that took him years to understand after he was diagnosed with PTSD following years of work as an undercover cop pretending to be a wise guy in order to infiltrate the New Jersey mob, Delaney said.
His first response was denial.
"PTSD? That only happens to Soldiers," Delaney reasoned.
"We always think it happens to someone else," he added.
Soldiers, law enforcement officials and fire fighters often fall on the same, double-edged rhetorical sword.
"That uniform makes us believe we can leap tall buildings in a single bound. That's both a blessing and a curse. We need strength to go forward as Soldiers, as cops or fireman but need to tend to our emotional injuries, as well," he said.
It was only after fellow state troopers confronted him about his irrational behavior that Delaney agreed to participate in the counseling that helped him to adjust to the emotional trauma of years of undercover work.
As a result, he firmly believes people who have experienced trauma benefit from both professional intervention and by sharing their experiences with people who have been traumatized in a similar manner.
"So cops need to talk to cops, firefighters to firefighters, Soldiers to Soldiers and combat wives need to talk to combat wives. It may go to professional counselors or psychiatrists but having a trust with someone who has gone through a similar experience is invaluable. You got to let the air out of your balloon," he said.
Earlier in his presentation, Delaney compared the emotional pressures that build up inside of people who have been traumatized with the air inside of an inflated balloon. How the pressure is released determines the balloon's behavior and subsequent usefulness: if popped, the balloon is ruined; if released uncontrollably it darts about the room unpredictably; but, if released in a controlled manner, the balloon can be used again.
Whether it's the air inside a balloon or emotional pressures that build up inside traumatized individuals, when released in a controlled way, "It might make a horrible, screeching noise but, over time, I could let most of the air out and use the balloon again. That's PTSD. That's how you're going to deal with it," Delaney said.
He warned members of the audience not to believe their problems will resolve themselves or disappear with time. Expect them to recur.
Often, when he returned to court to testify against mobsters he had arrested and locked up years earlier, he re-experienced the guilt he felt initially as a result of turning in mobsters he had befriended.
"I'd be a year or two removed from a situation and then I'd go back into court and it would trigger the original feelings and memories," he said.
His work with Soldiers and law enforcement officials in the United States, Canada and overseas reinforced conclusions he had drawn about how to cope with his own PTSD experience.
While in Mosul, Iraq, this past summer, Delaney said, a Soldier approached him after a book signing. He told Delaney that he had re-experienced the pain of an IED attack when a camera flash had gone off at the book signing.
"The trigger took place and it set off the same physiological response. Expect it," Delaney told the crowd at Fort Hood.
Although he said he wished he could say otherwise, Delaney told them, "There's no finish line, folks. At some point, three to five years from now, there will be triggers. When sirens sound on base triggers are set off; it's a normal physiological response."
To help them adjust to life after PTSD, Delaney advised, "Find something that gives you inner peace, whether it's photography or something else. For me it was basketball."
After leaving law enforcement, Delaney, who had played high school basketball, became a well-known NBA official.
He suggested people should not define themselves narrowly by vocation.
"So if you are only a soldier, when you don't Soldier anymore, you don't exist," he observed of that restrictive self-concept.
People also should remember they are also full-time dads, sisters, mothers, and brothers.
"Find a balance. That is vital to the happiness that will be part of your life. It's not easy to do; it takes work. What is shared with you during the first 15-20 minutes took me years to understand. But it's put me in a better place and I know when I present my story, firefighters and cops and soldiers approach me because it resonates with their experiences," he said.
Because Soldiers and first responders are givers, he added, "We don't allow our families in sometimes. People who wear uniforms want to protect others and sometimes they forget themselves."
Family members also experience the ripple effects of PTSD, Delaney said.
"When people are going through PTSD," he said, "their families are going through ATSD (active traumatic stress disorder.... It's part of what comes with the horrific experiences that come with wearing these uniforms."
To combat the giver syndrome, Delaney advised selfishness. When he was in Iraq, he said, about 60 percent of Soldiers asked for him to autograph a book for a friend or a relative.
"You have to be a little selfish. Get a little bit more concerned with what's going on inside of you," he advised.
And be honest when looking at your image in the mirror.
"A guy in Iraq told me he had to take a knee, do it if you need to. It helps everyone for the team to be at 100 percent," he advised.
| Date Taken: | 12.10.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 12.16.2009 20:12 |
| Story ID: | 42858 |
| Location: | FORT HOOD, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 237 |
| Downloads: | 216 |
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